Innovation is the process of putting new ideas to work. For any business to start and grow to the desired capacity, a certain level of innovation is required so as to propel the business to the shape that the owner(s) would like.
It is not only new businesses that need to be innovative, but also well established and old businesses should be innovative so as to be able to tackle and overcome new challenges as well as to be able to deal with emerging challenges in the industry.
Innovation is also the deliberate application of skills, information, initiative as well as imagination so as to get bigger and better values from resources. In this case, new ideas are generated and converted into useful products so that they can satisfy the customer’s expectations and needs.
What is innovation design?
Innovation is not only about coming up with new ideas but before you come up with the ideas you need a foundation which will eventually lead to innovation. In business terms, this foundation and development of new ideas are what is referred to as innovation design.
Innovation design is also about changes that will be able to bring about a positive improvement or difference in business. The positive change or improvement may include new products, services or technology.
Why do businesses need innovation design?
For a business to stay relevant in the current hyper-competitive markets, they need to be proactive rather than reactive. Business should be able to read and understand market trends so as to be able to come up with innovative solutions to problems even before they arise.
Failure to do this will lead to a business world where businesses copy each other’s products and services pushing down the quality and generally spiralling down the business model.
In order to be proactive; innovation leadership and innovation design are crucial. In order to innovate, it is a must for businesses to build a capacity to design. It is only through designing that businesses will be able to bring about the difference and have the competitive edge among its rivals and stay relevant on the market for a long time.
By making a difference, businesses will be able to create value and this can be achieved through design thinking, strategic foresight and business planning as well as innovation management. Design thinking is an important aspect of innovation as it is a front-end approach to problems, enabling the businesses to tackle the problems before they arise.
Common problems that can be solved by business innovation design
There are hosts of problems that a business can be able to avert with proper innovation design but below are the major and common problems that innovation design may help solve.
Invention of new technology which does not make money – New technology is always welcome in any business. However, there are instances where business owners fail to benefit from the implemented new technology. In such a case, innovative design would solve such a problem by forecasting the best way to implement the technology so that it is profitable to the business.
Business becoming obsolete due to unforeseen competition and market trends – The main purpose of innovation design is for businesses to be proactive rather than reactive to situations. This thus prevents business from becoming obsolete since challenges can be tackled in good time.
Uncertain futures and unknown business challenges – Is your business facing an uncertain future? Then you need innovation design in order to plan ahead. This way, you will also be able to discover and tackle the unknown challenges to your business.
Stagnant business – Even though the business might be doing great, systematic growth is always required. Innovation design helps grow stagnant businesses that though may be doing well, have not been growing for a while.
